European Commission's humanitarian office (ECHO) has revealed that it has been using funds from its budget to fund the development computer system which stores fingerprints and other biometric data gathered from refugees. Four million euros from ECHO's budget were donated to the project, which is run by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Civil liberties activists and development NGOs have expressed strong concerns over the diversion of funds intended to aid victims of humanitarian disasters to security-related initiatives.

Simon Stocker from Eurostep said that there was clearly a danger that the database could be used as part of the EU's migration control strategy. The use of humanitarian aid for such purposes "could be seen as compromising." ECHO, he noted, is officially committed to ensuring that its activities are focused purely on relieving the distress of vulnerable people and that they are independent of more strategic political considerations.

John Clancy, the European Commission's spokesman on humanitarian affairs, denied that supporting the project was "in any way a departure from ECHO's traditional role." "An effective registration system is crucial for refugees because it allows them to have their status clearly established and their rights respected," he said. "They gain access to humanitarian assistance, social services in the host country and sometimes even local employment."

"If the EU wants to finance security projects, it should be doing so from money earmarked for security projects (rather than from humanitarian aid)," said Ben Hayes of the advocacy organisation Statewatch.

Hayes warned that although UNHCR claims that law enforcement agencies will not be permitted to access the database, this assurance was initially given by the EU's own similar Eurodac system, and later reversed. "Once these things get big, their appeal for law enforcement agencies can become huge," he added. "It becomes very difficult to resist calls that law enforcement agencies should have access to them."

Source:

• IPS